


Two Can Do (Friendship)

by ink_inEden



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Baby Scorpius Malfoy, Canon Divergence - Cursed Child (because Scorbus meet as toddlers), Cute, Cute Kids, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Harry is babysitting, Kid Fic, Lots of cuddles, M/M, Some crying, and Ron Weasley, baby albus potter, but the focus is mostly on interactions between Scorbus and Drarry, ginny weasley - Freeform, hermione granger - Freeform, mention of Astoria Greengrass, or more like toddlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 02:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10548740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ink_inEden/pseuds/ink_inEden
Summary: Everything had been fine. Great even. Until James brought in the invisibility cloak, that is.Harry should have ripped that thing away from him as soon as he saw his joyful head floating through the kitchen.Yes, Harry as in Harry Potter. He is a man in his late twenties with a lovely family, a somewhat intact social life, a decent job and - most importantly right now - babysitting duty.Which somehow led to him rocking his wailing baby-daughter on his hip and petting the head of the crying three-year-old on his leg while simultaneously trying to figure out what his son got up to this time and how the hell he is going to stop Malfoy from skinning him alive.Or Scorpius and Albus are a tight-knit toddler-duo, Harry has to babysit them and it’s very adorable and kind of stressful all at once.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am going to warn you: I just let my imagination of fluffy Scorpius/Albus run free in this.
> 
> I hope you appreciate it :)

 

Everything had been fine. Great even. Until James brought in the invisibility cloak, that is.

Harry should have ripped that thing away from him as soon as he saw his joyful head floating through the kitchen. He wondered where his oldest son always managed to find these types of things. He _himself_ didn't even know where he had put the cloak last. But well, maybe that should have been all the warning Harry needed.

Yes, Harry as in _Harry Potter_. The boy who lived and defied Voldemort and saved the magic world from darkness and - you get the idea. But anyways, he is not a boy anymore. He is a man in his late twenties with a lovely family, a somewhat intact social life, a decent job and - most importantly right now - babysitting duty.

Which somehow led to him rocking his wailing baby-daughter on his hip and petting the head of the crying three-year-old on his leg while simultaneously trying to figure out what James got up to this time and how the hell he is going to stop Malfoy from skinning him alive.

That's also something that has changed: He and Draco Malfoy are friendly now. Yeah, Harry is not really sure how that happened, either. He mostly blames it on Hermione and Ginny.

Apparently, the former one ran into him at...wherever the hell you run into Malfoys these days and started talking about….because…and that somehow ended in Malfoy having a heart-to-heart with her? Harry should really start asking the right questions.

Well, the bottom-line of the conversation, however, seemed to be that Astoria Malfoy’s health was in such poor condition that she couldn't look after their son Scorpius when Draco wasn't at home and no trustworthy nanny wanted to work for a former Death Eater. And Hermione - being the campaigner for justice that she is - decided that one more child wouldn't carry weight and volunteered to help them out.

To Hermione’s astonishment - but not to Harry’s - Ron, on the other hand, begged to differ and absolutely refused a Malfoy ever crossing their threshold. This _then_ resulted in Hermione teaming up with Ginny to convince _Harry_ to let him come over to the Potter household. And...well, considering that the woman who had been called “mudblood” by one Malfoy and the woman who had been at the mercy of a Horcrux because of another one couldn't hold a grudge against them, Harry kind of ran out of arguments.

Which is why, his former enemy has been coming around for a few weeks now to drop his son off for a couple of hours. He had been incredibly embarrassed and awkward the first few times but the fact that he showed up anyway told Harry all he needed to know.

Harry would never admit that aloud, but he actually enjoyed having Scorpius in his house. The little Malfoy immediately bonded with Harry’s youngest son Albus Severus and it was absolutely adorable to watch these two in action.

While Al was more advanced in walking, Scorpius seemed to be unable to ever shut up - so Al would toddle all around the room to collect toys, whereas their small ash-blonde-haired guest would roll around on the floor and happily babble out instructions or slobber on his own fingers. 

When Albus was with his siblings James and Lily or Hermione and Ron’s children Rose and Hugo, he always seemed to be a little more quiet and reserved than the other four. With Scorpius, however, he was _glowing_.

And Scorpius simply seemed to be a bundle of sunshine. Like, the whole Malfoy-bloodline had been holding off on their smiles, just to stuff them all into this little boy.

So yeah, Harry was pretty convinced that Malfoy would kill him if that kid had as much as a single scratch. Which brought him back to the current situation.

Harry sighed and eventually decided to trust James with Lily – who looked way too smug for a five-year-old by the way – so he could pick up the distressed Albus instead.

“Sh, Al calm down. I need you to tell me what happened.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because Albus’s sobbing turned even more violent. Harry soothingly ran a hand through his hair and tried again. “Come on, baby boy, everything is going to be fine. Daddy will fix it. You just have to tell me what happened, so I can help you.”

This time his words seemed to be more successful.

“No Alby. Alby a-all oka-y.” The little Potter hiccuped. Harry rocked him carefully and nodded encouragingly to make him go on. The boy’s eyes filled with tears again. “Scopy!” He cried out, just to muffle his next words into Harry’s sweater. “Al loose Scopy…”

“You can't find Scorpius, honey, is that it?” Harry asked again to clarify.

“Nonono. Al bad! Wants Scopy - Al wants Scopy! Al’s fault. Al...Scopy...”

He was getting more and more worked up again, but Harry had a pretty good suspicion what was going on. He rubbed his back and quickly checked that his older son hadn't dropped his little sister in the meantime, before he carried his younger one from the kitchen back to the living room.

He carefully tiptoed a few steps over the carpet, until he was able to lure Al’s snotty face out of his sweater. He gently wiped away a few tears on his face and turned him around a little bit.

“Where did you see Scorpius the last time, Al?”

Immediately, his son scrunched up his face in concentration and examined the room. Finally, he pointed to a fluffy blanket on the floor, which had a toddler shaped dent in the middle.

“Okay.”

Harry walked closer and put Albus down carefully.

“Don't move, Al, okay?”

Al nodded earnestly with big eyes. Searchingly, Harry let his hands wander over the ground, until his fingers touched soft silk. He grabbed it and pulled the invisible cloth towards himself.

Scorpius’s socked feet popped up first. Then his green clawed belly and his tiny fists reappeared. When his head finally showed up, he had a confused look etched onto it, trying to figure out where the cloak went.

Al gasped surprised, his eyes swimming in happy tears this time. The sound prompted Scorpius to roll around and look at his playmate. As soon as he saw the tear stains on Albus’s face he started wailing in sympathy.

Albus quickly rushed forward to gather him in his arms. “Scopy, Scopy. No! No sad, Al here! Al sorry, Scopy!”

Scorpius sniffled and looked at him with round eyes. “Alby is alrighty?”

Albus nodded quickly. “Yes. Super-douper al-ighty.”

Scorpius’s face morphed into a blinding smile at that and he snuggled further into his friend’s arms. Albus just hugged him tighter. Crisis averted. Harry gently smiled at them, before he got up to check up on his other two kids.

He put Lily down in her cradle and got out a ‘Where's the Snatch?” book for James - something that he loved and would keep him from doing mischief for at least an hour, until his annoyance about the many moving tiny objects and humans would get the best of him.

When Harry finally returned to the living room, he was greeted by a strange sight.

Albus and Scorpius were still sitting in the same spot where he had left them, but now Scorpius was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets and Albus’s limbs. The only thing still visible of the Malfoy-boy was his round little face.

Naturally, Scorpius still wore the brightest smile in the whole wizarding world, but his skin had already turned an alarming shade of red – whether because of impending suffocation or hot flushes, Harry wasn’t quite sure. He _was_ sure, however, that his son causing his best friend at least some mild pain in his protectiveness.

“Hey, Al…” He said carefully, while stepping closer. Immediately, Albus’s head spun around, fixating Harry with a mixture of threatening, confusion and unbelievable cuteness. _Okay, then…_ “Um…You have to let Scorpius breathe a little, baby boy. Look – his face is all red.”

Albus turned his attention to his friend again with big round eyes. Scorpius met his gaze with a huge smile and equally big round eyes. He looked at Albus completely trustingly, although his face was more aflame then the entire Weasley-family’s hair.

Albus, on the other hand, seemed a little shocked. Carefully, he pocked one finger into Scorpius’s chubby red cheek but dropped it right away, panicking.

“Daddy, Scopy’s burning!” He wailed, his black hair suddenly puffing out in all directions.

Harry chuckled a little, immediately disguising it with a cough when he saw Albus’s distressed face. Quickly, he scrambled forward.

“No, no, no. Scorpius is fine, Al.” He reassured him and caressed his messy hair. It sizzled a bit under his touch, but otherwise Albus’s outburst didn’t seem to have any worrying effect. “We just need to get him out of these blankets.”

“But…but…”

Albus chewed on his bottom lip, looking a bit torn from his dad to his friend. Scorpius wobbled in his hold like he was trying to give him a hug although his arms were strung to his body.

“I is fine, Alby.” He said sweetly and gave him a toothy smile. That seemed to sooth Albus.

Harry appreciated the fact that he was now able to slowly peel Scorpius out of the blankets and Albus even joined in to help, but he couldn’t stop wondering if this child was even for real.

Once the blankets were gone, Harry realised that, although he may have been able to save Scorpius from them, he certainly wouldn’t be able to save him from his own three-year-old.

Fondly, he watched how Albus wrapped Scorpius in his arms again as soon as he has had a minute to breathe and started peppering his now pink face with little “healing” kisses.

Harry assumed if their friendship was supposed to work in the long run, Scorpius should probably get used to that. Judging by his joyful giggles and his tight grip on Albus, Harry doubted that it would be a problem.

“So…what do you want to play now?” He asked after a few minutes, because he was honestly starting to get worried that the incident might have caused a severe fear of physical separation for the two. Albus gave him a disapproving look.

“Scopy was ill. Scopy need rest!” He replied almost offended and squeezed him protectively to his side.

Sometimes Harry couldn’t really believe that his child was for real, either.

“Mummy is ill.” Scorpius suddenly piped up, sadly. “Mummy can’t play with I. Mummy too ill.” He blinked up at Harry with huge eyes. “But mummy still loves Sco-pius. Mummy and daddy loves I.”

Harry felt his heart break a little at that. It couldn’t have been easy for Draco to sit his three-year-old down and have this talk with him. And to make sure that Scorpius knew that it didn’t mean his parents loved him any less.

“Scopy is very strong.” Albus whispered quietly and Harry couldn’t agree more with him. “Scopy deserve love.”

“Mummy loves pictures!” Scorpius added randomly, already sounding way more cheerful.

Harry mulled that over for a second. He always tried to engage the two in activities which could cause minimal damage to their clothes and their bodies – he was still secretly afraid that Malfoy would challenge him to a duel over a stain or a scratch, no matter how many times Ginny had laughed and told him to relax – but maybe today was the day to change that.

He cleared his throat. “Would you like to paint a picture for your mum?”

Scorpius’s eyes immediately lit up. “Yes!” He crooned excitedly, hopping up and down. “Alby, too? Alby help paint for mummy?”

Of course, Albus nodded vigorously and Harry brought out the finger paint from the drawer with a flick of his wand. Both toddlers instantly tried to catch the colourful tubes out of the air, giggling and squealing when Harry let them dance around them on purpose. He smiled to himself and conjured up a piece of paper underneath them, that was bigger than both of them combined.

“Green!” Albus and Scorpius immediately shouted in unison, lunging for it. Albus was a little faster and held the tube up in the air, while Scorpius jumped around him, making grabby hands. Harry doubted that the paper would actually survive this painting session.

In the end Scorpius got his green and Albus took some red instead and they peacefully started painting next to each other. Well, as peacefully as two toddlers with colours on a huge canvas could be, of course. Harry probably was a bit too generous with the size of the paper.

Sighing, he casted a spell around them, so that at least the rest of the living room would stay clean, and returned to the kitchen. He lazily swung his wand around, trying to clean the scattered dishes, while listening with one ear if the children were still safe and sound. He only heard soft babbling and gleeful laughter.

Just as he was contemplating to check up on Lily and James again, there was a knock on the front door. Harry jumped a little, but hurried to the door quickly once he made sure that no child was screaming blue murder.

As might be expected, Harry was greeted with the sight of Draco Malfoy when he opened the door. Harry leant against the doorframe and crossed his arms. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them uttering a word.

“Potter.” Malfoy finally snarled at him. He looked regretful as soon as the word had left his mouth, clearing his throat abashedly. Harry felt the corners’ of his mouth twitch.

“Sorry, that came out wrong. Um, old habits and all…” He chuckled self-depreciatingly, probably again wishing he would have just kept his mouth shut. “Er…I’m here to pick up my son?”

Harry decided to finally have mercy on him. He stepped back with a chuckle and waved him inside. “Yeah, right. He’s in the living room with Al.”

Malfoy visibly relaxed and quickly wiped his feet, before he followed him. Harry led him down the hallway and through the kitchen, secretly swinging his wand left and right whenever he saw a discarded toy or piece of clothing.

“Did everything go alright?” Draco asked conversationally, as if he didn’t know exactly what Harry was doing.

“Um…yes, everything was fine. Actually, Al and Scor- Oh, no!”

Harry stopped dead on the doorstep of the living room, while Malfoy bumped into his back.

“Potter, what-”

Scorpius looked up from his painting when he heard his father’s voice, almost looking like an artwork himself.

“Daddy!” He exclaimed happily and scrambled to his feet as fast his uncoordinated little body could manage.

Well, there was no chance now that Malfoy wouldn’t notice the colourful finger paint smeared all over his son’s face and front. To Harry’s surprise, he didn’t seem to mind and even met his little tyke halfway to pick him up. Now Harry had two paint-covered Malfoys standing in his living room.

“Hello, little prince, did you have a nice time?” Malfoy asked quietly, once Scorpius was safely propped on his hip.

While Scorpius immediately started babbling, Harry was yet again startled by how much they looked alike. It wasn’t only their appearance either. With Scorpius in his arms, Malfoy’s body language seemed softer and relaxed, content.

Harry glanced over to his youngest son, who was slowly approaching them. He stopped when he reached Draco Malfoy’s legs and blinked up at him.

“Mr Malfoy?” He whispered timidly and extended one small arm to him.

Malfoy looked over to him in surprise, while Scorpius’s rambling faded out and he instead waved at his friend excitedly. Carefully, Malfoy crouched down, balancing Scorpius on his hip with one hand and shaking Albus’s tiny hand with his other one politely.

“Hello Al.” He said with a calm smile on his lips. “Have you looked out for Scorpius for me?”

Albus nodded earnestly and Harry could feel his chest swelling with pride. “Yes. Al and Scopy po-po…protect each other.” He replied, before his eyes suddenly started to dilate and he quickly looked between Harry and Malfoy. _Oh, no._

“Al…Al loose Scopy. And burn.” He added in an almost inaudible whisper.

Slightly alarmed, Malfoy met Harry’s helpless eyes, then looked at his perfectly healthy little boy, who was kicking in his hold to get to his distressed friend, and finally back to Albus, whose eyes were slowly filling with tears.

“So-y! Not be mad, pease!”

“Um…It’s okay, Albus.” Malfoy reassured him with a weak smile, before Harry had the chance to do so. “Look, Scorpius is fine. I’m not mad.” He put Scorpius back on the ground, who immediately shuffled over to hug Albus. “Why don’t you two finish your painting? It looks really sweet.”

Albus hiccupped slightly, the combination of Malfoy’s kind words, Scorpius’s hug and mumbling in his ear slowly starting to calm him down. He nodded frazzled and Scorpius happily dragged him over to the paper again.

Harry cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um…you are very good with children.”

Malfoy looked up at him with raised eyebrows, still kneeling on the floor. “I’m not my father, Potter.” He said mockingly, but there is no real malice behind it. He brushed off his legs and got off the floor, his gaze fixed on their children. “And I do know what love is.”

Harry mustered his profile, not entirely sure what he’s trying to say. He was never really able to tell what was going on in Malfoy’s mind. In the end, he just opened his mouth and bluntly responded with “You have paint on your face.”

Malfoy chuckled and rubbed a hand over his cheek. “I figured. Scorpius is quite the force of nature, isn’t he?”

Harry nodded and smiled fondly at the two boys in his living room. “I’m happy that Al has him. Scorpius brings him out of his shell.”

“It goes both ways, Potter.” Malfoy said kindly. “Albus is a great kid. – Astoria would love to meet him.”

Harry looked at him in surprise. Malfoy laughed at his astonished expression. “What? Just because we never managed to be friends, you think I would stand in the way of our children?”

Harry shook his head. “No, no. We already buried the hatchet anyway, didn’t we? We could maybe try…? To be friendly, I mean.”

“I thought that’s what we were already doing?”

Harry only rolled his eyes. “Oh shut it, Malfoy. You know what I’m talking about.” He hesitated for a moment, before he offered him his hand. “We could start with first names?”

Malfoy looked like he had a comeback on the tip of his tongue, but in the end he just sighed and decided to humour him.

“Draco.” He replied curtly and gave Harry’s hand a warm squeeze.

Harry smiled at him. “Nice to meet you, Draco. I’m Harry.”

Draco dropped his hand and rolled his eyes in amusement. “Well, _Harry_.” He said with a smirk, while he turned his back to the living room. “How about we start this lovely friendship with the little tale of your son ‘loosing’ and ‘burning’ mine under your oversight?”

Harry groaned and followed him over to the kitchen table. Lovely, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, dear reader, for reading this :)


End file.
